


Linnod

by laEsmeralda



Series: Linnod [1]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-10
Updated: 2014-12-10
Packaged: 2018-03-05 15:01:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3124496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laEsmeralda/pseuds/laEsmeralda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Early in the quest, Lady Galadriel helps Legolas to see his path to Aragorn. Frodo also finds himself smitten with the elf, and he intrudes upon the couple's first night, to an intriguing outcome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Linnod

On the Fellowship's third day in Lothlórien, Lady Galadriel searched for Legolas and surprised him in one of her favorite glades. He was practicing with two knives, stripped to the waist, hands flashing with speed. 

She watched for a moment of elvish time, observing his long, flat muscles playing beneath pearly skin. As his mane whipped back and forth, covering and then revealing again, the lady noted with compassion the many old, pale scars and new red wounds marring the sheen of his flesh. He whirled in a graceful stab and his breath caught at the sight of her. He dropped to his knees. 

"My Lady! Forgive my appearance." 

Lady Galadriel laughed, an exotic and fantastic sound, even to his sophisticated ears. "Never apologize for great beauty, Legolas," she replied, drawing his shirt from a bough and handing it to him. "You stop even my immortal heart, but I am not here to dally without my lord. Clothe yourself that I may speak unhindered." Despite the amusement in her usually grave voice, he rose and complied briskly.

"How can such restless energy persist in my peaceful wood?" she continued, bemused, "Why do you not grow gentled and eased like the others? I have given you protection, repast, and solace that you may renew yourself for the dark days ahead."

"I will be ready, My Lady." 

Galadriel set her mouth. "The quest is my first concern, dear cousin, but not my last. Come, tell me what it is that I see in you."

"Lady, I am troubled, especially so since you spoke with us upon our arrival."

"Yes, this I have seen. Since the first night when you held my gaze so well, you have kept yourself from your companions--as they have well noted--except for Gimli, whom I see travels with you about our realm learning good things of us elves for a change. What troubles you?" 

He met her eyes and held them for a few moments, deciding whether or not to unburden his heart. Finally, he dropped his gaze in deference to her. "My loyalties are tested, Lady." He wiped his knives and sheathed them so hard they sang out in protest.

"Are they, indeed?" She raised a lovely eyebrow. "Having looked into your heart, I am surprised." 

Legolas frowned. "I have vowed my life to my people, the Ring-bearer, and the members of this Fellowship, as each serves the one before."

"And have you betrayed these pledges?"

"Not yet," Legolas replied, his voice catching. Galadriel sat on the marble bench and waited patiently through his silence. It was some time before he spoke again. "I have overly strong feelings for a member of the Fellowship," he ventured. "Anger, grief, love, desire." He struggled to go on. "It goes beyond comradeship."

"I judge you not."

"Others would. He would."

"Then you speak of one of the humans. . . or the dwarf." Galadriel looked highly amused. "Only they would be so narrow of mind." Again, she waited.

"It is Aragorn, Lady." Legolas' shame burned across the space between them. 

Tall even seated before him, Galadriel reached out to lay a cooling hand on his face and caressed him. His eyes went icy blue as she drew the heat from him and he knelt before her in weary relief. She sighed. "You are not new to men or women, Greenleaf of long life. Our morality fits the measure of our years. What brings this new distemper to your blood?"

With the easing of her touch, he found himself better able to speak. "I am a seasoned warrior. I take deep wounds to my body and spirit in war, and the art of self-discipline is second nature to me. I know to make myself quiet and place the quest before my needs, however long it lasts. In this matter, with Aragorn, I find myself unquiet, and it poisons me. Further, it is dangerous. Does the lack of stillness in my heart not interfere with my choices to protect or not, to follow or not, to kill or not?"

"Of course." Galadriel rose and walked the length of the glade. "It is always thus, for we are not stone, impervious to feeling that which may break against us. Meditation and stillness of mind are intended to enhance our sight and our patience, not to strip us of bonds with others." She turned back to him.

"Would you kill me without hesitation if I tried to take the One Ring from Frodo?" 

Legolas looked aghast. "My Lady! You would not!" 

Galadriel raised a finger of warning. "In the time you require to consider the matter, this moment would pass to the next. The considering does not make you wrong. It makes you a thinking, loving being. When we cease to be that, the Great Evil will have prevailed."

"I fear I will be the cause of what you have foreseen in the breaking, and I would give my life to prevent that."

"It is not you who will break the Fellowship. You will sustain it when most hope is lost." 

Legolas released a sigh and kissed her hand with reverence. "Yours is the greatest of gifts, Lady, my doubt has festered until you came this day."

"But that is not all?" Galadriel waited while Legolas gathered his thoughts.

"What of My Lady Arwen? I would do nothing to injure her. She is already so tender in these matters." Tears began to form in Legolas' eyes. 

Galadriel's startled words next pierced to the heart of the matter. "She has already spoken to you."

"Yes."

"She approached you," Galadriel said, flatly. Legolas cast his eyes downward and nodded. A fierce blush rose again in his pale cheeks. Again, Galadriel spoke, this time with amusement. "You do not blush from inexperience, renowned lover."

"I am still in horror. How could I let such feelings show to her? The dignity of Rivendell requires otherwise. My respect for her requires otherwise. I did not even let my eyes fall upon him when they should not." The prince's voice was tight with anger at himself.

"Your heart is open, Cousin, and I have tested you unfairly in this glade. You did not slip in Rivendell as you believe." Galadriel pulled a scroll from her sleeve and tapped it on a slender finger. "My Lady is more perceptive than most. More so than her father, himself a great seer. But her gift lies not in sensing events, but souls. She has felt the truth deep in Aragorn where he keeps it chained. He will not speak of it. But she has seen him with you, moving in your ether. In watching, she has noticed that he is different with you in small ways. And you move in concert with those differences."

"Aragorn has given me no reason to think he feels for me other than as a trusted member of the Fellowship."

"You do not yet know him as she does. She has asked my assistance in speaking with you. As you may imagine, the Lady Arwen does not trouble me with gossip and trifles. I am asked to interfere to ease your worry so that you, the senses of the Fellowship, may remain open and clear. We must depend upon you in this quest not to conceal your pure heart in layers of self-doubt. You must sense the cries of beloved friends from great distances. You must hear the movements of our foes before they are upon you." 

Galadriel brought a firm hand came to rest on Legolas' shoulder. "Bestow your love where you will and we will all be better for it. We must also see that Aragorn's turmoil at himself will not cause him to stumble on his path. In her youth and lack of forward ways, Arwen fears she did not make herself clear." 

Legolas rose and paced. "At the time, I thought that her meaning could not be mistaken. Lady Arwen came to me early the morning we departed. She dismissed the two pages with whom Elrond had honored me, and pulled the blankets from my body herself. To my protests, she laid a finger to my lips and smiled that sad smile that breaks my heart anew each time I see it." Legolas' eyes clouded. 

"You love our lady too." 

"I do. She is one of great power, love, and sacrifice."

"Do you desire her also?"

Legolas smiled, "No, Lady. I would touch and hold her as my most beloved sister, with great love, but not passion."

"Yet you have loved women with great passion, have you not?" Legolas assented, and with some effort, Galadriel continued in her low voice. "Go on. Tell me what transpired between you that day."

"She helped to wash and dress and gird me, as though she were not a princess, but a squire at my aid. Her hands on my skin were curious and kind as she worked, yet did not rouse me. When I was ready for the journey, she stood behind me and plaited a long thread of her making into my hair, singing to me of our elven kinship." 

Tears flowed unchecked down Legolas' face as his memory evoked Arwen's song, and he pulled forth the bound lock of hair, woven with fine blue silk. "As she finished, she whispered to my ear, 'some who desire both female and male cannot be truly fulfilled by either alone.' When I turned to her in surprise, she was gone, her mantle rustling through my chamber door. I knew not to follow or question her. This is what Arwen Evenstar last said to me before we parted."

"As cryptic as she was, you knew she spoke of Aragorn? It is a hard lesson for most to learn of their beloved. Some are fortunate and have the same understanding of themselves. Others stand aside while their beloved seeks completion elsewhere, and it pains them greatly."

"Is Arwen fortunate in this?"

"At this time, Legolas, none can say." Galadriel smiled kindly. "She is younger than you by long years, and Aragorn has been the only person to move her to love with her whole heart. Elrond does not allow her to love for sport as most of our kind do." The smile faded. "My granddaughter has already given over her immortality for Aragorn, whether he accepts that fact or not. I do not think she has thought beyond him, but she is wise beyond him. Listen to her words. Do not trouble your mind more on this matter and see what unfolds." 

Galadriel rose and stood before Legolas. "And do not pretend distant feeling for the others. Objectivity is always affected by love. You love each member of the Fellowship, each in their own way. For example, you cradle gentle Frodo in your kindness and song, giving him ease for his loving soul. You joust roughly with Gimli and thus honor his lineage while teaching him to respect us. In each of these bonds there is attraction. What you feel for Aragorn is what you feel. Your actions have been beyond reproach."

"Then, I shall endure by his side. I am prepared for that." 

The smile returned with a quizzical twist to Galadriel's lips. "My stoic prince, you have mistaken my meaning. Be happy while you may. Take this time left in my realm to love."

A ripple of surprise moved across Legolas' brow. "What is to be done with so little time left? I cannot be forward with him as I would an elf with whom I am so familiar. I cannot either resort to our elaborate rituals of courtship--he will not understand me." 

Galadriel shook her head. "I cannot speak of this to Aragorn. Humans, even one raised with us as he, are strange beings in matters of the body, and I would make things worse. But you are a creature of light. Do not hide your spirit as you have, and Aragorn will be drawn to you. If Arwen is right, he cannot help himself." Galadriel stroked and kissed his bowed head and took her leave with a final smile.

Legolas felt his heart lift at her kiss. He returned to his companions and after keeping from them for days, found that he had missed them deeply. From a distance, he could see them healing before his eyes in the safe time of the great forest. 

Even Boromir seemed more at peace. He and Aragorn were like chums of old rather than wary dogs with one another. Legolas felt a little stab at their camaraderie in his absence. As an elf, he was more apart them than near; Aragorn's elvish blood and rearing were dormant in the domination of his human blood. Legolas could feel it though, and smell it. He knew it would awaken more as Strider gave way over the days and miles to the emerging leader.

Aragorn approached and embraced him with joy as he would a fellow warrior of hard times and good. Legolas found himself drawn back into the hearts of his friends and he slept that night in utter peace.

Over the next days, Legolas allowed himself those small pleasures of touch in Aragorn's company that he had avoided before. He brushed by close when passing the man, allowing his perfume to envelope Aragorn. He noted that Aragorn neither flinched nor ignored his touch. Legolas' hand stayed longer than usual on the man's shoulder or forearm during conversation, and Aragorn did not shrug away. Once, in the midst of telling a good tale, Aragorn turned and flung his arm around Legolas' neck. 

As he allowed himself a little freedom, Legolas was nevertheless careful, perhaps too subtle. He ensured that the others in the party would not see. Another elf would know him plainly, but a human, perhaps not. In the human world, the physicality of war often brought with it permission to anchor ones fellows to life with rough affection, something the elves never did. Legolas' people embraced heartily after long separations but were otherwise refined and formal in physical contact with one another until they coupled. 

As the party had noted to one another in keen embarrassment at first, singing is not the only sound elves make as if to be heard by all. They had grown accustomed to the wild fabric of the night sound in Lórien, mingled birds and frogs and elvish pleasure ebbing and flowing through the trees. 

At dinner one night, Legolas half stood and leaned far across the table for a pitcher of wine. Aragorn, in mid-sentence himself, unconsciously reached out to steady his friend with a hand on the small of his back--though Legolas in his grace was never at risk of losing his balance. Legolas burned at the touch and sat so abruptly to hide his reaction that Gimli chortled.

"Lo, taking rest and food makes our elf clumsy. I have seen oliphants sit less heavily, my friend."

"Bite your tongue, dwarf," Legolas grumbled, "I have had too much wine it seems." He waited for his breeches to loosen, then retired alone to the hollow the company had chosen for camp.

Elves of both genders approached Legolas for his favors, and being elves, they made little secret in the company of their intentions. Gently, one by one, he turned them away and they left with wistful looks. The draw of Legolas to the little camp over the remaining time in Lórien became a topic of lively conversation. 

"Legolas is well-loved," said Frodo at dinner one night, flushed with fine wine, good food, and the night sounds that had already begun. 

"He is well-desired, but not yet well-loved, I fear," replied Boromir. "I have had the joy of a woman these past days, and my heart and mind are much the clearer. What ails you so, my beardless boy, that you would resist the last simple pleasures before battle?"

"I may be beardless, but I am no boy," replied Legolas in a humored tone, deftly avoiding the question. "I have lived and loved away many of your lifetimes."

"Perhaps he is worried he cannot tell the difference between the boys and the girls who apply to him," harrumphed Gimli. "Who condones this debauchery among men? It is against nature!"

"Do not judge what you do not understand, Gimli," admonished Aragorn sharply, causing Legolas' heart to pause, "Days ago you thought yourself a foe of the Lady of this wood. How feel you now?" Gimli fell silent and considered.

"Besides," Frodo said, "the mere fact that elves are so beautiful does not conceal their genders. A person could never mistake our Legolas for a woman, could they, Gimli."

"Certainly not!" exclaimed the dwarf.

"Still, a fellow ought to stick to a nice girl," chimed in Sam. Everyone grinned.

"If he has one, Sam," Frodo replied. Eyes shining with admiration, he turned back to Legolas. "One of such beauty of face, form, voice, and soul cannot escape anyone's notice," said Frodo, embarrassing himself, then hurried to add, "But I prefer partners my own size for practical reasons." 

Legolas noted, with something more than mere amusement, that the hobbit's words were carefully chosen not to exclude any possibility. "I am flattered indeed, Frodo." With affectionate eyes, he slowly and gently appraised the hobbit's beauty in return. What he said next, with the greatest of dignity, surprised even him and stunned the company to silence. "Master Frodo, Ring-bearer, should you change your feeling in the future about our differences, or should you wish a fair assessment of them, you must be certain to tell me." Gimli snorted in suprise, Merry and Pippin howled, and Boromir looked truly shocked as Legolas rose. The elf did not look at Aragorn to see his reaction. "You must all excuse me, I feel the need to air out this wine in an extended walk."

He had covered a number of long strides when he heard the quieter of the two humans following.

"Wait for me," called Aragorn. 

Legolas stopped and allowed the man to catch up. "I am your servant." He bowed in teasing deference. They walked some way together in silence before Aragorn spoke.

"I had no idea that you were, ah, drawn to Frodo."

"He is compelling, is he not?" Legolas paused and regarded Aragorn directly. "Astonishing?"

"My love for him is born of his courage, and his will to go on despite overwhelming odds." 

"And his beauty? All of his beauty. Have you truly seen him, Aragorn? Can your elven blood detect his heart?" 

Aragorn looked at Legolas askance. "Well, such things cannot escape notice, but he is like a child."

Legolas snorted. "He is nothing like a child and his years exceed yours."

"He is the Ring-bearer."

"You are giving reasons, but are you moved?" Legolas challenged him.

"I am moved, but I do not desire anything further with him than I already have." 

"Truth be told, Aragorn, neither do I. In other times, I would go to him without hesitation, but now?" Legolas shrugged and walked on.

"Then why toy with him when he is so tender!" 

Legolas whirled on Aragorn in anger and snarled inches from his face, "I never toy, Human. Never! I find myself overwrought and I simply spoke the truth of the moment without thinking. Frodo knows the difference and is unharmed by my honesty." He turned away and continued on the path.

"Legolas, stop. I am sorry, I have offended you and it pains me." Aragorn was close on his heels.

"Let us not dwell on it."

"Please stop, my friend." Aragorn's hand was suddenly heavy on his shoulder. Legolas stopped and closed his eyes, not wishing to break the contact. The touch of Aragorn's strong fingers aroused him immediately. "If you are overwrought, Legolas, as you say, why keep so to yourself? Why not have comfort and keep company with one of the other creatures of light who eagerly seek you each day." 

Legolas did not turn to look at him, but he chuckled. "I fear it would take the whole forest to satisfy me in my present need." 

"I believe the whole forest has applied to you and been rebuffed," Aragorn laughed in response.

"My heart simply lies somewhere else. I want what I cannot now have and I cannot bring myself to be with anyone else. Is that so difficult to understand?"

"No. I did not know. Forgive me for making light of it." Aragorn stepped in front of Legolas and searched his face. "Why did you not speak of this to me before? I understand separation from one's great love. We are blood brothers and friends. You may be open with me. Who has captured you from us?" 

Legolas simply looked at Aragorn with his full attention, arms folded before him, and waited for the obvious to be seen. As the rush of his full elven blood began to sing to the whisper of Aragorn's, the man grew pale and stepped back, letting his hand drop from Legolas' shoulder. The elf felt disappointment deep in his stomach but his gaze did not waver from the green of Aragorn's eyes. "Yes, we are blood brothers, and friends, and comrades at arms. That is why I did not speak of this to you." Suddenly, Legolas found he had no energy to walk further, and he turned back toward camp, leaving a speechless Aragorn behind.

As he was drifting off to troubled sleep, Legolas was poked in the arm sharply by Gimli.

"Elf." Gimli whispered in as confidential a voice as a dwarf can muster. He sounded uncomfortable.

"Dwarf." 

"Has it occurred to you to take care of the problem yourself? I don't mean here of course, but. . ." 

Legolas grinned, teeth bright in the low light. "Gimli, by all that is sacred, please say no more. I understand you, and thank you for your concern. It is not for lack of regular release that I suffer. It is a matter of heart."

"Fine. Then cease your endless tossing and turning, friend. I do not believe your heart must make so much noise that I cannot sleep."  
*******

 

It seemed to Legolas that his first sweet moments of real rest were torn from him unfairly. He awoke disoriented to Aragorn leaning over him and shook himself awake.

"Is it my watch?" he whispered.

"There are no watches for us in Lórien, remember?" replied Aragorn softly. "I need to speak with you. Alone." Legolas roused himself and followed Aragorn out of the hollow and up one of the tall staircases to an empty antechamber.

"Legolas."

"Yes."

"Legolas. . ." 

"Aragorn, as much as I savor hearing you say my name, I would rather be sleeping." 

The man nodded, absorbing the embedded admission. "I was taken off guard when we spoke earlier and I hurt you. I did not know that you desire men. I was surprised enough to hear your comment to Frodo, but I could, upon reflection, understand his individual charm." Aragorn paced.

"My friend, I do not desire _men_ or _women_ in general, but individuals as my senses and heart dictate. Thus, I have had women and men in my thousands of years, Aragorn, elves and humans."

"No hobbits?" Aragorn gave a cracked smile. 

"Not yet." Legolas sighed. "I do not expect you to understand me."

"Legolas, I do not know how to tell you that, unlike you, I do not desire men, so I must just say it without pretty words." Unaware of his own movement, Aragorn stepped very close to Legolas while speaking. 

Their eyes held steady. Legolas replied, "It is said, and I hear. But, I am not _men_ , Aragorn, I am me. Do you wish to tell me that you do not desire me? I will hear you." He spoke more softly even than usual and pitched his voice to resonate in the man's chest. "I will not be offended. Sad, but not offended." Legolas could feel the heat of Aragorn's body so near him in the chill air and he longed to embrace him. "Say that you do not desire my touch, to touch me, and we will not speak of it again, my friend." 

Long moments passed.

"Legolas, I. . . I find that I do not wish to say it." 

The very breath of the man's words grazed the elf's sensitive skin, and Legolas' arousal was swift. "Do you think it nevertheless? Do not spare me." He held Aragorn's now wavering green gaze, aware that his own eyes were shifting from deep brown to blue with his passion. He steeled himself.

"No." Came the trembling reply. Aragorn, battle-scarred ranger, stood before him, chest heaving with conflicted emotions. "No." Legolas reached out one hand and cupped his rough jaw, caressing just with his thumb. Aragorn closed his eyes.

"That is a start, Estel, do not take on more in a day than you should." He turned to go, his heart leaping with hope. 

Aragorn caught his wrist. "Wait," his voice was desperate.

"What do you wish of me?" Legolas was deliberately cool.

"Before you leave me, I would ask for. . ." suddenly, he looked stricken and released Legolas. "Arwen," he said hoarsely. "Oh, Arwen."

"Do _not_ chastise yourself."

"Do not chastise myself? I am to be loyal--how can I think what I am thinking?"

"Being loyal and cleaving to one person may be separate things."

"Do not play with words."

"I do not. She consents."

"What!" Aragorn hissed, his eyes narrow in sudden rage. "How could she know, much less consent! What have you done?"

Legolas stood his ground in the face of Aragorn's wrath. "She came to me in youthful earnest. I did not ask her permission, yet she gave it." 

"She thinks this of me?" Aragorn's voice broke with shame. 

Legolas considered the moment and what to say carefully. "Yes. There is no shame in loving me. She finds none." 

Aragorn's voice was torn. "I do. I do." He paced the chamber for long minutes without speaking.

"Estel, speak to me." Legolas reached out a gentle hand. 

"No! Do not try to console me. I have never spoken of it before now."

"You can trust me. And I will love you, whatever you say." The elf made himself still, and waited.

Aragorn wiped his eyes and after more minutes passed, bit out the words. "In my youth, I had men--they had me, in the fevered dark after battle and only there. It felt evil and it was evil. Bloodlust. Hurtful and shameful and unstoppable."

"You know this is not that. You do not wish to hurt me, nor I you."

"Among my people, men may not openly lie with men without sad consequence."

"You speak of an unfortunate need for secrecy when among your people, not of an impossibility. Aragorn, we elves are scholars of loss. The lives of too many creatures we love are shorter by far than ours. We choose the path of attachment and loss rather than the path of detachment. To survive this, we try not to anticipate suffering or joy, but live in the moment as each comes to us. We look beyond gender, race, position, age, and the other distinctions on which you humans focus. We love whom we will." 

Aragorn startled at the ghost of Arwen's words returning to him. He began to calm. Legolas simply waited. At last, Aragorn spoke again. "I trust you with my life and my soul. This I could account as my love for you as Legolas, my great friend. But my skin craves your touch. I know as a ranger to trust my instincts. Yet I do not know how to begin with you whom I love. I am afraid I cannot be another way than I was. . . then, and I could not bear that with you. Test me." 

The silvered elf, glowing in the moonlight, heard the blood pounding in his ears; he felt as though he would burst from its rush. Legolas stepped in, and without touching the man anywhere else, took his lips with strength and gentleness at once that made Aragorn lean on him in sudden weakness. His lips moved over and over Aragorn's mouth, finally eliciting a groan from the ranger that reverberated in the elf's loins. He broke away, afraid that his own passion would spill forth with no more contact than that. Patient lover that he was, he would not allow that to happen.

"You would not be the same as you were then," he said, raggedly. "That is more than enough for one day, Dear One." He released Aragorn and stalked back to his bed. All were asleep. 

After attempting for some minutes to ignore his discomfort, to will himself to overcome it with breath, he finally released himself in aching silence, without song. As he shuddered in physical relief, his mind on Aragorn's kiss, his keen senses felt a parallel tremor from the other side of the hollow, and he rejoiced in the knowledge that Aragorn was, however indirectly, sated by him that night.  
******

 

In the early morning, Frodo awakened Legolas with a cup of water. "May I speak with you, Sire?" 

Legolas rubbed his eyes and regarded the hobbit before him with gentle amusement. "Sire? You over flatter me, Ring-bearer. Come, sit by me and tell me your purpose." He reached for Frodo and pulled him to the bedroll beside him, wrapping him in long, silver limbs and locks.

"Legolas, please!" Frodo laughed and struggled to remain sitting and not spill the cup.

"What is amiss?" Legolas pretended to become more serious as he took the cup. "Have I erred? Did I harm you, gentle one?"

"No, my friend. Far from it." He laid a small hand on Legolas' chest. "Be still, and listen to me. I cannot think a straight path of words in your grasp. I wish to speak of last evening." 

Legolas froze in fear that his exchange with Aragorn had been discovered. "Last evening?" He glanced about, seeing Gimli's bed empty, and across the hollow, Aragorn's bed as well. Merry and Pippin snored softly on either side of Boromir's pallet, but the human was gone. 

"Yes. I fear that I offended you, most beloved friend." A blush bloomed again on Frodo's cheek. 

Legolas relaxed back and stretched sleepily. "I am not offended, Frodo. What have you to say to me in the light of day?"

"I am sorry for my drunken words last night." 

Legolas smiled a sparkling smile. "For which of them, Frodo, are you sorry? Some I took to heart. Do not withdraw them now so surely."

Frodo avoided his eyes, took a long lock of silver hair in his hands and put it to his lips. "I beg forgiveness for my light words, and for such a public discussion of any of it. The wine and sound of the elves in the air made me speak too frankly. I told myself I was only coming to your defense and found myself making advances." 

The elf tried not to heed that the color was rising again in Frodo's lovely, fresh face. "Peace, young master. You have no need to ask forgiveness. Frankness is the way of your people and mine." 

Frodo placed his hand on Legolas' lips. "Let me not mince words in the short time that there is no one to overhear. As a hobbit, I have great love for all goodness and I seek pleasure everywhere. You do not know me that way in this time of sorrow. The great weight I carry separates me from everyone, especially now, with Gandalf gone." Frodo's voice broke with grief and he cried for a few moments at the loss. Legolas stroked the hobbit's cheek, respectfully brushing the tears away. "Sam has Rosie to think of, and that love bears up his already buoyant heart. Merry and Pip are too young to need any company but the silliness of one another and this great adventure. I have never been so alone as now with so many friends about me."

"You are not alone, Frodo. We all love you." 

"You see me as fragile, in need of your protection. But unlike the humans, Legolas, you do not touch me as a child, you do not carry me, you do not call me 'little one.' You give me respect as an equal."

"You are my equal." 

"You are thrice my stature. This separates us in running, and riding, and fighting, but it would not matter in loving because you have unprejudiced eyes. I crave your company, and I follow you for the solace your own lonely voice always gives me. You seek out the same peaceful places that I go for quiet. We spend time together of which you do not even know."

"You are quiet of movement, hobbit, but do not think I am unaware of your presence." 

Frodo's eyes flew to his friend's face in surprise. "You knew?"

"I sing for you Frodo, to give you peace as the elves may."

"But you knew I was there when you swam. . . and bathed?" Frodo grew flustered again as he realized he was caught spying.

"My people are reserved but not shy. I did not think on it a moment. Of course," he chuckled, "I was not aware that I was being watched with lascivious intent!" 

Frodo put his face in his hands, covering his now high flush with the perfumed silver hair he still held. When he spoke again, he did not uncover his face, and his voice was husky. "In the waterfall at Rivendell, you were magnificent to my humble eyes." 

"Frodo. . .

"Legolas, let me finish once and for all. Since I have met you, I know why I have been a bachelor at Bag End these many years, pretty girls going by, catching my eye but not my heart. Nor did I notice the boys. Seeing you, even terrible and fierce in battle with blood of our foes running down your arms and chest, never staining you, I am smitten at last. I have been born not to love my own kind, but to love a creature outside my reach."

Legolas remained silent, and closed his eyes to block the unexpectedly delicious sight of the hobbit swathed in his hair. 

Frodo lowered his voice to a whisper. "I have thought of you, seeking me out. Putting your elegant hands on me wherever I wish. Allowing me to bring you the pleasure I know I could. I admit that I have cried out your name in private moments when I am away from the others." 

Legolas drew a sharp breath at the intimacy of the revelation and checked himself from responding. He had not been with another for many months. In lighter times, he would have slipped his hand between the hobbit's strong legs and taken the situation where it wished to go. 

Frodo misunderstood the expression on the elf's face. "Do not worry for me. Dreaming of you gives me strength. But I know your desire lies elsewhere. I am happy in our love as friends no matter what. I cannot help that I am moved to crave your body as well. If there ever comes a time when you wish it, I hope you will share with me that pleasure." Frodo finally dropped his hands and opened his eyes, but he could not look at the elf. His face still burned.

"You have stunned me with this honesty. I am not unmoved by you as you think, and I spoke too much of the truth last night as well. Even so, I did not know until this moment the strength of your sensual power." He sighed. "Dear one, I am pulled in my desire elsewhere and I cannot help that either. I have been waiting endlessly for that one's touch, which may never come. You deserve the best I have to give in the arts of love, not the ardor that has built upon another's call." 

Frodo nodded in painful understanding. 

"You think I speak so to spare you from rebuff? Never so. When I resolve my dilemma, one way or the other, I will come to you. If you still want me then, we shall have great pleasure." Chocolate brown eyes met blue and Frodo's lips parted in surprise. "For now, however, we must exchange this heavy air between us for lighter so that we may remain together without pain." He gently pulled Frodo down to his chest and cradled him, breathing the breath of meditation with him, letting the slow thud of his own heart still the hobbit's racing pulse, until their bodies quieted and they slept. 

Aragorn found them that way a little later and felt a twinge of jealousy deep in his body. The beautiful creature of the Shire lay in abandon and perfect repose against the elf's hardened frame. The silver mane curtained them both.

When Legolas rose to break the fast, he found Aragorn by the cooking fire. No one else was about. He placed a loving hand on the man's shoulder.

"Good Morrow, Aragorn."

"I suppose you would find it so, Legolas, beginning as it did for you."

"Ah, I will not play such games with you, Beloved," Legolas said, so softly. 

Aragorn's shoulders relaxed. "Forgive me. I am now _overwrought_ , as you would say. I would have no one, not even the innocent Ring-bearer, occupy the place that is kept from me."

"I do not keep it from you, but should it remain empty?"

"At the very least, you had hope in this time, thanks to my lady's indiscretion."

"Indiscretion? She is beyond your reproach and you are unduly high and mighty on the subject, Human." Legolas was indignant. "She spoke a difficult thing to me to make us safer. And happier in this time of pain."

"Still, she gave you hope. I had none, facing endless days and nights in your proximity without relief."

"I have a remedy for you, should you wish it."

"What of Frodo?"

"Frodo is himself, and I am myself. What of you, Lord?"

"Tell me what to do."

"No one tells you what to do, Lord."

Aragorn turned on him in desperation. "For pity's sake, Legolas, I am in torment." 

"As I have been for weeks. Do you wish to be freed from your chains, or not?" Legolas challenged, "I do." 

Aragorn's green eyes burned back into the elven brown and his voice was harsh. "When we leave this safe land, we will be entrusted with the lives of this Fellowship. We cannot be absent at the same time. We cannot be distracted by each other. We cannot flinch in the face of disaster or place one another's safety above the others'. Above all, Boromir cannot know what passes between us."

"We are here, _now_ , Aragorn, in the most utter safety that can be offered in this time. Tomorrow and the next day are before us. We will be clandestine and steal our rare moments together when it is safe. Today, let us be together as we are." 

Aragorn considered. "What then, shall we do?"

"I have arranged a place. It is my way not to be hasty, but to linger long and know the other well. At dusk, follow my voice. The others will not know." Legolas hefted his bow and left.

Gimli met him outside the camp. Legolas shook his head. "No, my dear friend, I must have this day and night fully alone. I have decided to take the advice of my friends and seek a companion for a brief time. For this," he smiled, "I do not imagine you wish to be present."

"Of course not, Elf. I have only grown accustomed to traveling this realm with you," Gimli replied gruffly. "And I thought we should go into the woods together, that I might explain my regret at my words last night."

"How so?"

"I spoke with prejudice, my friend. I was boisterous and ignorant. I cannot imagine anything that you would do, most sparkling one, to be aught but right. I would defend you to the death, whomever you love." Gimli's chin tilted fiercely. To the dwarf's surprise, Legolas knelt and embraced him with bone-crunching power, and then was gone, leaving Gimli still sputtering.

Near sunset, Aragorn took his leave of the company as if to hunt. Even where there was no need, and no killing permitted in Lórien, Aragorn would practice tracking. The others fell into gaming and jesting, and noticed him leave only in passing. 

After many strides, Aragorn heard the familiar voice calling, and followed it. The rest of the Fellowship heard the song too.

"Legolas sings a happy song for a change," Pippin said, "it is good to hear something other than lament." 

"What is he saying?" Boromir asked.

"He is calling a lover," replied Gimli gruffly but pleased. 

Frodo felt a stab of pain that another would soon have what he so wanted, and wondered who could have such a strong effect on Legolas yet not have met the hobbit's keen and interested observation. It was no elf he had seen in Lórien. If not, who would travel to meet Legolas here if the elf was unsure if the love was returned? A sudden realization struck him. He could not be certain, but his instinct felt right and a great many things were explained. Things of which he would speak to no one.

"Deal the cards, will you!" Frodo dove back into the game to distract himself.

Past many twists and turns of root and branch, Aragorn reached a great mallorn tree, and followed the song to a chamber high above the forest floor. There, he found Legolas waiting in a room with thickly twisted and leafy bower walls. A pallet had been laid thick with silks and pillows, and a white woolen blanket beckoned him with softness. At Aragorn's entrance, the song trailed into silence. The man saw with some trepidation that the waiting elf's eyes were brilliant blue.

"I could not wait here in anticipation, and not anticipate," came the even-toned answer. Legolas wore his shirt and breeches, his velvet tunic had been flung aside. "But there is no hurry in this."

"I am yours. Do as you will."

"I have not waited for months to squander my heat in a few moments. Eat, Lord. I would not have you here without food." His tone sharpened with humor. "We will be here many hours. You will need your strength." Legolas pressed him with fruits and nuts and the clear water of the Lady's fountain. 

Aragorn reached to touch the bowed lips with his thumb. "Why do you not speak my name, Legolas? I crave it."

"I am schooling myself for later, as I will explain presently. But for the moment, I may use it. . . Aragorn." 

The man shut his eyes and savored the sound in his ears.

At star rise, the whole character of the wood shifted. Elves coupled without shame throughout the realm, and their voices mingled as if in eerie song. Aragorn cast his eyes down at the knowing of what was to happen. 

Legolas spoke again. "There will come a time in a few hours, when I will, like them, sing out to the earth and sky of my joy. The rest of the Fellowship will hear me. It is certain if you touch me at all." Aragorn regarded him with unspoken concern. Legolas turned away.

"I will not deny myself and be silent. I will, however, promise you that I will not speak your name, not even in elvish. Gimli knows that name as do the other elves of this wood. I have meditated for hours on the word to use instead-- _Beloved_. They will hear my voice and question or jest tomorrow, and I will deflect them. But they will hear me tonight." 

Aragorn raised his cup and regarded the broad shoulders and fall of pale hair before him. "You will excuse me if I say your name many, many times tonight, Legolas. My voice does not carry on the wind as yours. And I would have you do as you will, whatever the consequences." He was earnest, yet unprepared, when Legolas turned on him, unbridled passion glowing in his eyes.

"Yes? Then here is my will, Lover." And he enveloped Aragorn in a kiss of breathtaking heat. His mouth stripped the man of resistance, moving with wanton ease from tongue and lips to jaw and neck.

Some hours later, as they moved in reverent rhythm against one another, shaft against shaft, belly against belly, warm and wet in the starshine, music emerged from deep in Legolas' heart. He sang out in joy and completion at last. 

Galadriel smiled against the chest of her husband, sated herself from their hours together, and rejoiced, restraining herself from singing back to beloved Legolas in the way of her people, as Aragorn would understand and wonder at her reply.

Back at the hollow, the remaining company, hard at gaming, startled at the new, yet unmistakable voice of Legolas at the height of passion. Eyes furtively exchanged a look as they were all shaken to the core. Frodo's eyes shone unabashed in love. "Oh my," he breathed in the sound, "I will lose myself to him for certain whether he wants me or not." 

Sam blushed. "But sir, you cannot take such immodesty to heart."

Frodo looked at Sam angrily. "I take to heart the love of good people, whatever they believe. Legolas has proven himself to us beyond question."

Gimli slammed his tankard on the table and exclaimed, "Deal, Boromir! Although I am glad he took our sound advice at last, I find that I wish not to hear my comrade at arms so revealed in his moment of weakness!" 

For Boromir's part, sweat broke on his brow, as he could not help but feel the strength of the elf's animal call. "Weakness, Gimli?" he muttered, "If it is weakness, why do I, of no desire among men, at this moment wish myself in his lover's place?"

Merry popped another biscuit in his mouth and made an obscene gesture. Pippin slapped his hand. "Have respect, Merry. Has Legolas been aught but good to you? You should bow to the glorious love of an elf."

"If I do not make a joke, I shall die from it," replied Merry, looking very sober. "At that sound, my feet almost set themselves upon a path to him. Just hold me here so that I do not embarrass us again, Cousin."

"What do you suppose Aragorn thinks?" Boromir asked, "I cannot imagine this would escape his notice, however far he hunts."

"Aragorn will be glad that his comrade rests at last," said Gimli.

Far across the forest, Aragorn's cheek rested on pearly skin. Tears ran in rills over his face and pooled on Legolas' chest. The elf's fingers trailed lovingly over Aragorn's back and shoulders.

"What, Aragorn? Are you well?"

"I am more well than in my life before. This was not what I expected."

"How so, my friend?"

"In so many ways." He thought for a moment. "When we began, I thought you would press me down and take me in the heat, and I was prepared. It was something I intended to endure so that I might show you the depth of my feeling and have your arms around me at last. I only did not want to treat you as I had. . . . Let me not speak of that now in this place."

"I sensed that as one who has been taken by force, you did not want me inside you that way. I myself do not like it to be done to me. Some cannot conceive of completion without it, I simply disagree. But I would do with you anything you want whenever you want."

"How could I want anything more? I could not stop you from releasing me thrice to your once, so quickly that first time I was shamed." Aragorn burned again at the body memory of Legolas' mouth on him, ripping his will away. 

"That was my doing, not your failing. I could not resist seeing you lose yourself in that first pleasure, and I wanted you patient thereafter." 

"And the second time?" Aragorn asked, eyebrow raised. 

Legolas chuckled. "That was not fast." Indeed, it had seemed like blissful eternity, sitting face to face with Aragorn, kissing him endlessly, legs entwined and overlapped, their hands on each other, stroking.

"I thought from your voice that you would join me." Aragorn said warmly. Legolas had managed their pace carefully, pausing and resuming over and over. Finally, though, Aragorn had been driven over the edge by the urgent sounds Legolas began to make, for which the man was unprepared.

"It took all my concentration not to." Legolas rolled onto his stomach, propping himself on his elbows to continue the conversation. His hair slid past his shoulders in the motion and he glowed in the twilight. His slender back curved into unexpectedly muscular flanks, the line continuing unbroken down impossibly long legs. 

Aragorn traced Legolas' spine with a finger, continuing over the cleft of his backside and then back again. Legolas shuddered. "I would have you let me see you lose yourself in my ministrations, ancient one." Aragorn lowered his voice to a rumble that resonated in the elf's stomach. "I want to watch you writhe and hear you cry out to me." 

Legolas smiled. "I find I am ready." 

With a playful growl, Aragorn rolled him to his back and gently pinned his waist with the flat of his arm. "You are glorious," he said, and began in earnest.  
*********

 

"Again?" roared Gimli from his bedroll, which he had just reached with some difficulty due to the quantity of ale consumed during the game. "For pity's sake!"

"Our friend has admirable stamina and recovery," quipped Boromir dryly. I judge it four hours from the time his lover arrived to his first pleasure. From the first to second, but a little time, mere minutes it seems." 

"I always knew elves were interesting creatures," said Sam from his perch the fire, "not very modest, for so civilized as they are, though."

Merry and Pippin were already sleeping soundly, and didn't awaken. 

No one noticed that Frodo was gone. 

He had gone for a walk, leaving the others still gaming, following the general direction of what he had heard before. Curiosity drove him for the most part, as he wanted to confirm his instinct as to the identity of Legolas' lover. After he thought he had covered enough ground to have reached the place, he found himself at a loss. With so many trees, and nooks, and crannies, it would be impossible. He sat down and sighed. 

It was not long, however, before he could hear Legolas' voice rising and falling again in new pleasure. Not a crescendo yet, but a steady building of sound. Frodo leaped to his feet and found the correct staircase. Softly he crept upward, making no noise, barely breathing. Up and up he went, the voice becoming more present. His arousal grew with each step as did his trepidation. This following he was doing was a violation of Legolas' unspoken request to be left alone in this matter. But he could not stop.

Around a turn, he could see a bower formed not from the trunk of the tree, but of a platform and living branches interwoven around it. The voice was now just steps away and at a fever pitch. Frodo dropped to his belly, making himself very small, and peered into the chamber. 

He arrived just in time to see the elf's white body rise up from the pallet, taut like the bow that he favored in battle. Crouched at his hips was a larger, dark form, difficult to see in the low light but clearly human. Frodo did not need to see more to know instantly who grasped Legolas' flanks with such ardor and groaned in pleasure at causing the elf's abandon. 

Legolas sang forth the sound that caused Gimli such distress back at camp. The great wave of passion broke over Frodo and in shock he felt himself spill over with them. He bit his lips and prayed he would make no sound.

Afterward, he lay with his face on the plank of living wood, and panted, silently. He knew he had to get away soon, before he was discovered.

Aragorn held Legolas to him and intertwined their hands. At last, he spoke. "I am exhausted, dear one. I must return to the others before my absence is of concern. They will expect you to stay away the night."

"I am loathe for you to go, Aragorn." Legolas breathed for a few moments in quiet, then reached for his shirt where it was cast aside. "The cold seeps into me already."

"You know, even with my dim human senses, I can still smell Frodo on your clothes." Aragorn sounded mildly grumpy. 

Outside, the hobbit froze in fear. He had forgotten the keen noses of his friends. 

Legolas laughed lightly. "You are none to question whom I hold to me, my friend. It took all my resolve this morning to go on saving my love for you, as I have since we met, without knowing if or when you would reach for me. As you and I have finally had this night together, I will go to dearest Frodo whenever he will have me and so long as you and I have our time unhindered when we can." He caressed Aragorn's face. "This must not trouble you."

"We humans are a possessive people, and though I try, I am no exception. I respect your ways and I know your love. I cannot say I will not be jealous."

"And when you give Arwen your all and spend not a moment with me, I cannot say I will not pine for you."

"Fairly met, Legolas." Aragorn said tenderly. "Kiss me again before I go."

Frodo gathered himself and slipped away, feeling sodden and greatly ashamed of himself, especially at hearing Legolas speak of him. Upon reaching the ground, he ran for camp, praying fervently that he had not just done a very bad thing.

When they broke apart, Legolas stroked Aragorn's brow. 

"You must go and bathe on your way back to them. My smell envelopes you. As much as I love to have marked you, it will not go unnoticed." 

Aragorn sighed. "I am happily bathed in your essences. I wish not to wash them away."

"You must."

"You are right, I will of course, but I will mourn it. How can you smell so heavenly, always, no matter the gore and sweat of battle?"

"There is no decay in my kind. We fall ill, but not as you do from infection. We bleed, but our own blood does not poison us."

"Yours is the scent of golden mornings, heather, and fresh wood. I would know it anywhere. I must be rank to you."

"No, Aragorn. Love protects my nose. Beneath the toil of the road, I catch your private scent, and it draws me like few others. I will see you for breakfast." Legolas fell back and tossed the wooly blanket up and over himself, grinning in satisfaction. "Shall we meet here again tomorrow night?"

"We will find a way," Aragorn threw on his tunic and gathered his other things, "No reason to dress only to undress at the lake," he muttered. 

"I have the better end of the bargain, I fear," said Legolas, snuggling in for what little remained of the night.

"Oh, no. I have now had the best loving of the two greatest beings I have known in my life, and it humbles me. I have the better end, no matter a little cold water and a walk. Good night, fair one."

After Aragorn left, Legolas lay alone for a time, watching the sky lighten in slow degrees. His lips felt deliciously swollen, his body tired, his heart eased. He smiled and slept.  
*******

When Legolas strode into camp in the morning, the others, who had agreed to try not to notice him unduly, entirely forgot their pact. He stood so straight and tall, and brought such an aura of joy with him, sunlight on his shoulders and hair, that mouths gaped.

He walked up and took the cup of tea from a speechless Boromir, taking a lusty draft.

"What news, my friends, this morrow?" The corners of his mouth curled in a smile, his eyes blazed a strange violet shade they had not seen before.

Silence.

"Well do not pretend, my friends, you insult my singing!" 

"Singing! I should ask you out to fight and thump you soundly for keeping me awake so long last night." Gimli said gruffly. 

Legolas unslung his bow and knelt before the dwarf. "Do you begrudge me truly?" 

After a long moment, Gimli cracked a smile, then laughed and slapped his back. "It is good to see you restored, friend Legolas."

"What is here to eat? I am famished beyond myself." His happiness was contagious, and they all fell about making breakfast.

"I suppose the skill that made you sing so belongs to your kind alone," Boromir said confidentially at the elf's shoulder, "I fear I have not caused such music in the lady who graces me in this place with some of her time."

"Ah, Boromir, I cannot say it is beyond human ken. You simply do not know the ways we like yet. Ask her." 

Boromir flushed in disbelief.

"Human, _ask_ her." Leglolas grinned. "You are a strange kind that you may touch but not talk! And as you are already intimate, do not neglect her ears. Words, and breath, and touch are powerful to them." 

Boromir considered. "Thank you," he said at last, dodging an apple that Merry and Pippin were pitching back and forth. Pots and pans banged and the fire hissed.

"Where is Aragorn?" Legolas inquired.

"Abed still," said Boromir.

"For what reason? Is he unwell?"

"He came back very late," said Sam, "Or early as I mark it morning by then. I awoke as he was undressing. He was dripping wet, even his clothes. He said something about stumbling in the water."

"Well, let us see if he is still alive." Legolas took a steaming cup to Aragorn's bedroll. He nudged him with an irreverent foot.

"Strider. Rouse yourself. The company is all awake but for you." 

Aragorn groaned. "Torture me not with your exuberance, noisy one." At that, Pippin stifled a giggle.

"You are but jealous," replied the elf, his smile dazzling.

"Nay, the Evenstar sustains me."

Frodo watched quietly, realizing the need for this game. They were themselves still, and all around needed to see that and trust it. They spoke no falsehood yet misdirected the others. He kept his eyes cast down, anxious that when attention turned to him at last, it would be wrathful.

Aragorn pulled himself together and chased the first cup of tea with another.

"Come sit by me, Frodo," he asked at last. The hobbit's heart pounded, but Aragorn wrapped an arm around him. "I have been cold to you these days since Gandalf's passing, and I ask your forgiveness. It was not your doing, but Sauron's doing through the Ring. It is not my way to show it, like Legolas does, but I love you well. Let us all go on from this place healed."

"Then your hunt was good?" Frodo smiled a little guiltily, asking only what he would have had he not known the truth.

"It did not end in killing, but I found what I sought." The conversation turned to other things, and to breakfast. Eventually, Frodo excused himself from the others to a bath at the hot spring, which he sorely needed.

Once alone, he eased himself into the fragrant pool created by deep tree roots, his breeches left soaking in the sluice, and cried a few tears of remorse.

"Gentle one, do not cry." His eyes flew open at the soft voice so near his ear and he started up in surprise.

"Legolas!" 

The elf crouched at the pool's edge, then rose and began to disrobe. "I feel the need at last of a bath before the others notice my new odor." The words were thick with amusement. In swift moments, he was naked and sliding into the pool with a sigh. 

Frodo watched his pale body vanish into the water, that glorious hair floating out around him. Frodo's cheeks colored again. "How can you be so. . . unembarrassed?" 

"About last night or about being naked? It would take too long to explain the differences in our cultures and my two thousand and many hundred greater years. I am simply living."

"It was only a question." Frodo said meekly, closing his eyes again, "I am so easily shamed."

"And yet, not nearly shamed enough." Legolas' voice was serious now, deeper and intimate. Frodo's eyes snapped open, to find Legolas' face very close as the elf spoke. "I sensed you too late to stop you from seeing or I would have spared him the intrusion. Let us be thankful the ranger was. . . off his mark--I had bathed and my clothes were fresh." 

Frodo's face flamed and the tears started again. "Oh, I. . ."

"No, no," Legolas soothed, "it will be alright. But you must not speak of it, even to me. The price of being there is carrying it with you now unspoken. He would not be well with your knowledge. We cannot risk being overheard by anyone." 

"And you, are you well with it? I did not mean to hurt you." 

Legolas lengthened the distance between them again, not far, but enough that Frodo felt bereft.

"You almost spoiled a rare and precious moment in my life. But in the end, you did not. I am not angry."

"I will never invade your privacy again. I am so sorry. I was not myself."

"Yes, you were yourself, Frodo. You are learning things about yourself you did not know. You are inquisitive more than you thought. You are physical more than you thought. You stand adventuring better than you thought. You are finding that sometimes what you want comes before what you know is best." Frodo hung his head. "There is something else you should know about yourself." The music always present in Legolas' voice grew more poetic, and he moved nearer again. He crouched low in the water so they could be face to face.

"What?" Frodo's eyes were wide. Legolas was nearly nose to nose with him.

"When in passion, you smell strongly of moonflower." Frodo gasped and recoiled a little. "At least to the nose of any elf. I noticed it yesterday morning when you sat with me. Last night, when I was. . . in ecstasy, that scent rolled over me in waves. Then, I felt you and knew you were there with us." Legolas' eyes pierced him from inches away. "Truly with us."

"I couldn't help myself," Frodo whispered, his lips trembling, "I lay there still as could be and was, was overcome." He could not shrink away with the elf so close, and suddenly, under the water, he felt strong hands on his waist.

"You are hasty, greedy one, and must learn to savor things. Let me see if I can find hobbit terms for it... Taste first breakfast fully, and you will anticipate second breakfast all the more for the flavor enjoyed." 

"You were too powerful. I know you do not want me to speak of it, but seeing you that way, feeling your emotion was..." 

Legolas laughed a light and happy sound. "Frodo, there is that lovely scent again!" 

"Stop, Legolas. _Stop_ joking. Sam will be looking for me soon and I do not want to lose this moment." 

Legolas sobered as Frodo leaned over the short distance to kiss him. Frodo's full lips felt lush and tender and insistent. The hobbit slid his hands up well-muscled shoulders to a slender neck and deepened the kiss, finding the elf willing. He kept his body away, afraid to go too far. At long last, he pulled away and his eyelashes fluttered upward again to see Legolas frown.

"Was that not pleasing?"

"Mightily so, Frodo."

"Are you worried that Ar... your lover will be angry?"

"He might be," Legolas smiled at the hobbit's botched attempt to be discreet, "but you heard the truth I spoke last night. And I will soothe his wrath."

"Then why do you frown?"

"The shortness of time suddenly weighs upon me. We will have to leave this sanctuary soon. I find that having been celibate for far too long, delicious opportunities are suddenly before me without the proper time or privacy for their exploration. On the road, I must protect you and what you carry, not indulge myself with you. Yet here, I have pledged my time to another."

"I will wait until the time is right. I will not hinder you in any way. Now go, and let me finish my laundry and dress myself in peace." Frodo's little push made Legolas laugh again.

"You do not wish me to watch you? I am deprived of reciprocity in this."

"It is not my way to walk around naked. Have patience yourself." Frodo smiled and leaned back against the roots. "For now, I must be happy with only the sight of you while you entertain yourself loudly with another. I think my plan is fair." 

Legolas nodded and emerged from the pool, water droplets sliding down his hair and back, over curved flanks and legs. He dried himself slowly, and Frodo admired every line, gulping a little at the closest sight of Legolas he had to date. With pleasure, he could see that the elf was still roused a bit by their exchange. When at last Legolas was dressed in clean robes and had gathered his things, he knelt and kissed Frodo's curls.

"Until another time, Lovely One."

"My breath is stopped until then." Frodo said, dramatically, but smiling. 

Legolas dashed away, and Frodo rose and went about drying and dressing. He sighed as he wrung out the offending trousers, hearing faithful Sam finally making his way through the wood on his way to find his friend.  
****

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first slash story ever, written in March of 2003 and posted on the Tolkien Slash archive. Libitina left me the first comment I ever received.


End file.
